Improvement in sewing-machines



F. H. BROWN.

Sewing Machine.

Patented June 28, 1864.

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FRANKLIN II. BROWN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 43,285, dated June 2 1864 antedated June 18, 1864.

To all whom "it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN H. BRowN, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in a Sewing-Machine; and I do hereby declare that the following is at'ull, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being bad to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 represents afront end view of faceplate E, showing the shuttle-carrier A and its attachments. Fig. 2 represents a back view of face-plate E, showing feeding-bar F and its attachments. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of face-plate E, cut through the center of shaft 1), showing the sh uttle-carrier A at its highest point, and clearly showing the relative position of all the parts combined in the feeding a imaratus with those essential to the movement of the shuttle. Fig. 4 represents a perspective view of the back side of face-plate E, with the feeding-bar Fand a part of lever G removed, showing the dovetailed race H and sliding fulcrum l o.

The nature of my invention consists in a novel combination and arrangement of parts, constituting a much cheaper and more simple device for producing the feedmotion ot' the machine than has hitherto been attained, and also in a novel arrangement for carrying the shuttle without reversing its position in any part of its path or orbit.

Face-plate E stands vertically, and is the lower front part of the frame of the machine. It serves as a support to the bed-plate of the machine, assists in keeping the shuttle in the carrier, and is a firm basis to which several parts of the machine are attached.

B is a shuttle.

A is a shuttle-carrier.

t is a slot in carrier A.

a: is a stationary pin.

1) is a rotating shaft.

(J is a ring or wheel made fast to shaft D, and sunk into face-plate E, so as to be level -with the surface of the face-plate,'and forming a part of the same, for the purpose of enabling me to operate or move the shuttle around against the face-plate E, that being necessary, sincetheloop from the perforating-needle in race Sis formed just at the surface ot'the face-plate E, where the point of the shuttle must come in order to enter and pass it. Z isacrank-pin which attaches carrier A to wheel 0, and causes it to be carried around ateach revolution of wheel 0. The lower end of carrierA is restricted, so far as horizontal motion is concerned, by the stationary pin .r,which is fitted to the slot tofthe not allowing its nose to be at any time pointed in a direction the reverse of that shown in the drawings, thus avoiding the twisting of the thread,which is being run out from the shuttle, while in the act of sewing.

S is the needle-race.

F is the feeding-bar, attached to theregular eccentric m on shalt I).

y is a screw holding the feeding-bar in its place on the eccentric.

"v is the fulcrum, made fast to sliding piece I. Sliding piece I is placed in a dovetailed race immediately behind and parallel with feedingbar F.

G is a lever fastened at one end to the back side of face-plate E by pin 19.

O is a short slot out in the center of lever Gr, through whicht'ulcrum o is placed for the purpose of being moved up or down by lever Gwhenever it is desirable to changethelength of the stitch.

The regular eccentric m imparts a continuous rotary motion to the lever end of the teeding-bar F, causing it'to slide and turn upon the fulcrum o in slot u, thus imparting a continuous motion also to the feeding-surface on the upper end of the bar. I project the feeding-surface of the bar F through the table or bed-plate sufficiently for it to grip the material being sewed while the barFis at its highest or swit'test moving point only, thus moving the material being sewed forward until the curved motion of the feeding-surface carries it below, freeing it from the material being sewed. The material then remains stationary durin g a portion of the downward and upward strokeotthe needle while forming the seam, thefeeding-surface at the same time continuingto move round, and reaches its highest point in time to move the material forward again for the next stitch, while the needle is yet out of the cloth, finishing its upward and beginning its downward stroke. To shorten the stitch I move the fulcrum higher up in slot at, and to lengthen the stitch I move it proportionately downward.

The whole forms a very simple and effective combination of parts for sewing, when combined with a needle and other necessary parts common to most sewing-machines. By my movement of the shuttle, as above described,

I avoid the constantjar and great wear at tendant upon those shuttles which are moved backward and forward, stopping and starting for each stitch that is made.

I am aware that; the feedingmotion in sewing-machines has been produced heretofore by the operation of three slotted levers and two eccentrics, which impart the desired motion to the feed-bar; but my invention consists in simplifying this combination and changing this arrangement so as to accomplish the same result by means of a single eccentric operating directly upon the feed-bar, which is itself provided with an adjustable fulcrum, avoiding the complication of parts heretofore used, and thus producing a sewing-machine much cheaper, much less liable to get out of order and repair, and much more easily understood and managed by the operator.

1 am also aware that the movement of the shuttlein a circular path without reversing the direction of its point has been accomplished by pivoting the shuttle to a revolving circular disk or wheel by rigidly attaching to the shuttle a long projecting horizontal bar sliding in aloop; but the arrangement whereby I produce this movement of the shuttle possesses, among others, two important advantages, for in the arrangement heretofore employed, from the exposed condition of the sliding bar, which controls the direction of the shuttle-point, and its projecting out horizontally from the machine, there is a great liability of its beingbentor broken by accident, and thus rendering the machine useless for the time being. By my arrangement, however, by placing'the sliding bar in a vertical position, and pivoting it to the wheel. and attaching the shuttle tothe end of said bar, making it the shuttle-carrier instead of the wheel, as before, the parts are all so arranged as to be inclosed in the casing of the machine, and so protected from all accidental injury. In the second place, it will be observed that by the arrangement referred to, where the shuttle is attached directly to the disk by a fixed point, and so moved in a circular path, while at the same time it is kept in a horizontal position by the sliding guide, the shuttle passes through the loop diagonally with respect to its longitudinal axis, and that therefore, by this oblique motion of the shuttle-point, there is great dan-. ger and liability that shuttle, instead of pass- I ing properly through the loop, will catch upon the thread and break it, or by failing to pass through the loop makeimperfect stitches and do imperfect work, whereas by my arrangement,'as herein shown and described, this difficulty is obviated, for it will be readily seen that its effect is to cause the shuttle to move in an elliptical or elongated orbit, in-which that part through which the shuttle moves when passing through the loop approximates nearly to a straight line and is parallel to the axis of the shuttle; Thus the shuttle passes directly through theloop,insuring great certainty and precision in the performance of its function, instead ot'passing diagonally through,as heretot'ore,with its necessary objections. These advantages I consider important ones, and such as deserving of protection by Letters Patent. 7

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States as my lIlV6ll-' tion, is-

1. The combination and arrangementof the feed-bar F, the eccentric m, and fulcrum 'U with the lever G, slide I, and dovetailed race H, arranged and operatingsubstantially as shown and described.

2. The combination and arrangement ofthe shuttle-carrier A, sliding upon the pin 00, the Wheel 0, and face-plate I], operating as and for the purposes specified.

FRANKLIN H. BROWN.

Witnesses:

GEORGE BARNETT, J. A. HOIZINGTON. 

